Santa Ana’s Deaven Pérez goes up for a layup as La Quinta’s Shuaib Tahir defends and gets called for a foul Tuesday. (Photos: Fernando M. Donado, For OC Sports Zone).
Santa Ana’s boys basketball team opened the season Tuesday night defeating La Quinta 52-48 in the opening round of the Luis Macias Tournament in the Saints gymnasium.
The Saints were led by Deaven Perez, who had 18 points. Jack Rivera added nine points for Santa Ana.
La Quinta was led by Jack Nguyen with 13 points and Viggo Nguyen with 10 points.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo:
“La Quinta played hard and if their shots fell in the first half then they would have won,” said Santa Ana Coach Fareed ElMasry. “Both teams came out aggressive and we just happened to go on a late run. Coach (Mark) Sanchez did a great job preparing his team for us.”
La Quinta led 19-18 at halftime before Santa Ana captured a 35-33 lead going into the final stanza.
Santa Ana plays again Wednesday, facing Westminster at home. The 10-team tournament continues through Saturday.
Also Tuesday, Tustin defeated Bolsa Grande 63-31 behind the 18-point performance of Julian Flores. Jared Phan led Bolsa Grande with 15 points.
Dana Hills topped Santa Ana Valley 64-28. Adam Palini had 14 points to lead Dana Hills while Peter Vargas scored 10 points for Santa Ana Valley.
—Fernando M. Donado contributed to this story
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